Sports & Politics

Marx once wrote “religion was the opiate of the masses.” If he were writing today he might add sports. Few activities generate as much attention and passion as sports. From March Madness to the Super Bowl, there is enormous media coverage. Athletes are objects of adoration and idolization, that is, as long as they don’t stumble off their pedestals. O.J. Simpson. Mike Tyson, Pete Rose and Mark McGuire are among those who have fallen from grace. Sports stars are often confined to just talking about their profession. They are not to have any political interests or heaven forbid actual opinions on important issues of the day. However, today some athletes are breaking from the mode, in the tradition of Muhammad Ali, and are speaking out.

Speaker

Dave Zirin is sports editor for The Nation magazine and host of Edge of Sports Podcast. He is the author of many books including The John Carlos Story, What’s My Name, Fool?, A People’s History of Sports in the United States, Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down and Brazil’s Dance with the Devil: The World Cup, the Olympics and the Future of Democracy. His writing earned him Press Action’s Sportswriter of the Year Award.